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compare milwaukee 18v 0883 impact wrench and 0881 impact driver

09-30-2008, 01:08 AM

I am looking at the milwaukee 18v impact 1/2 in wrench ( 0883) and 1/4 quick connect impact driver ( 0881)
I see that the 0883 has 2200 in*lb torque, and the 0881 has 1400 in*lb torque.
I see on the parts list that they share the same motor and gearbox, and the only difference is the anvils.

Any idea how the torques can be so different with the same motors and gearboxes ???

I am looking at the milwaukee 18v impact 1/2 in wrench ( 0883) and 1/4 quick connect impact driver ( 0881)
I see that the 0883 has 2200 in*lb torque, and the 0881 has 1400 in*lb torque.
I see on the parts list that they share the same motor and gearbox, and the only difference is the anvils.

Any idea how the torques can be so different with the same motors and gearboxes ???

They were designed for different applications.
The Milwaukee 1/2 inch "impact wrench" was designed to drive lag bolts and to remove lug nuts from cars. It's torque and speed were optimized for those purposes.
The 1/4" "impact tool" is designed to drive mostly screws and does a very good job with 3-4" deck screws (far superior to a screw gun and easier on your elbow too) and smaller lag bolts. In our company the "impact tool has replaced the screw gun for almost all screw driving applications.
Different tools designed for different applications

Comment

I know about the different applications. I was just wondering how one could have so much more torque than the other with the same motor and gearbox.
I have the 1/4 driver, and was wondering how the other felt compared to it - I have never seen it anywhere except online.

Comment

The motor and gearbox doesn't have a direct relation to torque in an impact tool as it would on a drill. The motor and gearbox would only operate the tool directly at very low torques. Once a certain threshold is exceeded the anvil kicks and gives it the repeated torque bursts you see on the torque ratings. The motor and gearbox have nothing to do with the delivered torque at that point. It just operates the hammer mechanism. The impact driver would use an anvil/hammer that delivers lower torque blows than the wrench.

I have the 1/4 driver, and was wondering how the other felt compared to it - I have never seen it anywhere except online.

Totally depends on the application. The wrench would be able to drive or loosen much bigger screws, bolts or nuts. On the other hand if you used it for smaller stuff you'd normally use the impact driver for it could easily tear up and break things.

I am looking at the milwaukee 18v impact 1/2 in wrench ( 0883) and 1/4 quick connect impact driver ( 0881)
I see that the 0883 has 2200 in*lb torque, and the 0881 has 1400 in*lb torque.
I see on the parts list that they share the same motor and gearbox, and the only difference is the anvils.

Any idea how the torques can be so different with the same motors and gearboxes ???

They were designed for different applications.
The Milwaukee 1/2 inch "impact wrench" was designed to drive lag bolts and to remove lug nuts from cars. It's torque and speed were optimized for those purposes.
The 1/4" "impact tool" is designed to drive mostly screws and does a very good job with 3-4" deck screws (far superior to a screw gun and easier on your elbow too) and smaller lag bolts. In our company the "impact tool has replaced the screw gun for almost all screw driving applications.

I know about the different applications. I was just wondering how one could have so much more torque than the other with the same motor and gearbox.
I have the 1/4 driver, and was wondering how the other felt compared to it - I have never seen it anywhere except online.

Yep....I just took a look at the specs and now have a better understanding of your question. I would have expected the the RPM and BPM for the the
1/2" impact wrench to be slower as I assume it is swinging a larger hammer to develop the greater torque. However the RPM and BPM are the same. I now suggest an answer that is strictly a SWAG based on a bunch of years using many different sizes of impact wrenches and tools. I noted that the
1/4" impact tool is 3.5# while the higher torque 1/2" impact wrench is listed as 5.2#. My hypothisis is that the 1/2" is simply swinging a heavier hammer which accounts for it's higher torque. This is the same principal as when I use my 16oz hammer vs my 22oz hammer. With the same swing I can generate greater torque with the 22oz due to its greater mass. Thats my guess Neo, and I'm stickin with it. I'm sure there's some guys on this forum who remember their physics better than me and can provide a more scientific explanation.
To the question of "feel", although I have never used either of these tools, over the years I have used a large variety of sizes and power ratings of impact tools and impact wrenches from the small compact Makita 14.4 up to the large corded DeWalt 1/2" that we used driving nuts on 1/2" bolts putting up steel girders. My guess is the torque difference for these two tools is so little you would feel little difference between them.

Hold the fort here! I just took another at the specs for these tools on the Milwaukee website. In the above post I have the weight figures backwards from what Milwaukee shows on their site. They have the 1/2" at 3.5lbs and the 1/4" at 5.2lbs. If that is correct which doesn't make any sense to me then of course all my brilliant rationale as described in the previous post is kapoot!!!! Ray